Am I feeding my baby too much?

[bellerous]

Hi!

My baby boy is almost 3 weeks old and the last few days he's been really unsettled, not sleeping much longer than 20 mins, crying a lot and never seems satisfied after he feeds. He is mainly bottle fed but occasionally breast fed.

Today especially he's been hungry constantly he finishes a bottle and 20 mins later he's screaming and showing all signs of being hungry so I give him another bottle which he has only half or less of it settles him for a bit but then he's crying again.

I'm worried I'm feeding him too much but I don't know what else to do when he seems so hungry.

Can anyone give any advice?

Hi it can be so scary at first not knowing what to do for the best. Have you tried upping the amount in his feeds? We did this for our little one and it worked. Good luck and I hope things settle down for you soon.

At three weeks, he might be having a growth spurt, which would account for him being hungrier than normal.

However, if he's not then finishing his bottles, perhaps something else is going on. Does he have an unsettled stomach - wind/struggling to poo? That might lead him to seek extra food (to cure the pain in his tummy - must be hunger, right?) and/or comfort (sucking).

3 weeks is a growth spurt time so if its been just a recent thing then I would think that's the reason.

How much is in a 'bottle'? It was at around 3/4 weeks that dd2 (25th centile) started taking up to a litre in the space of 24 hours. They shouldn't drain bottles.

If he is only taking a small amount he isn't hungry. They often have a catnap before a feed. .. is he crying because he's tired? I'd try a dummy first instead tbh

If he's on

I agree with brettgirl2 - sounds like he could just be knackered and needs a bit of help to go off for a nap. The worst advice I got from a midwife was "if he cries, feed him" - as if there could be no other possible reason for him crying. It was only when we started a diary and realised that he was down to 6 hours sleep in 24 hours that we decided her advice was ridiculous and actually what he really needed was some decent kip.